The invention relates to a cell wheel for singling and separating seed such as corn having cells which are fed from the top and which taper with respect to the receiving side and being provided with openings, each having a diameter smaller than that of the smallest seed.
Such cell wheels are, among others, especially used in single seed planters such as that forming the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,057. The known cell wheels are provided with inner or outer cells, depending upon the method of feeding the cell means for eliminating superfluous seeds. The known machine has a cell wheel with cells tapering outwardly and having bores at the lower or inner ends and extending radially through the die body to its interior cavity. The cell wheel is at first supplied with seed so that several conical cells are filled and then moved past an air nozzle whose air blast is such that all seeds but one are blown out per cell.
These cell wheels allow only a certain number of cells on the periphery and the size of the cells is determined by the seed. Enlarging the diameter of the cell wheel is not practical because a certain peripheral speed of the wheel may not be exceeded. When using such a cell wheel for single corn planters, it will be necessary to vary the distance of the crops in the ground which will be done by changing the speed of the cell wheel depending on the traveling speed of the machine.
Sometimes it is necessary to use relatively high speeds for planting in order to plant the largest possible area per time unit. That again means that the speed of the cell wheel might be increased again, a procedure that is not readily attainable. It is, therefore, extremely difficult, if not impossible, with such machines to gain perfect planting. As already mentioned, an enlargement of the cell wheel is not practical because the peripheral speed of the wheel is limited, namely with reference to the planting capacity because the spacing and size of the cells are determined by the speed.